Structures that support transport of diverse electrical and electromagnetic signals, fluids, gases, and solids can be called “conduits”. This application uses the term “conduit” for any structure supporting transport that can fail from accumulated damage or deterioration such as a cable, cable bundle, hydraulic or pneumatic hoses, pipes, or fuel lines. Conduits and conduit components deteriorate over time and are frequently damaged due to stress factors called “Stressors” including but not limited to abrasion, vibration, stresses, strains, chemicals, and heat) that exist both without and within conduits. If left undetected and allowed to take its course, the damage caused by stressors can cause damage of said components grounding, shorting, leaks of substances carried in the conduits. The damage can occur in moments or take an extended period of time. Often the failure happens unexpectedly, before a system's operator knows of the problem.
In practice, conduits are usually encased by an insulating material and sometimes sheathed with one or more layers of cladding to assure continued functionality and safety. In certain situations it is important to know the degree of risk and status of health and integrity of conduits, contained conductors, and related components that comprise them. Conduits and systems of conduits may carry electrical power, fuel, other fluids, pneumatics, optical or electromagnetic signals. Deterioration and damage to cladding and insulation can be, and often is, a precursor to a failure in a system. Damages to interconnection systems includes, but are not limited to, chafing due to vibration, corrosion due to caustic chemicals, incisions, due to sharp edges, stress and strain due to motion, burning, oxidation, reduction and other chemical reactions, as well as chemical and physical degradation due to aging.
We focus now on aircraft wiring as conduits, although the following statements have broad application in other uses for conduits of other types in other applications. In older fly-by-cable aircraft, chafed, cut electrical harnesses, control cables and hydraulic conduits used to control flight surfaces, landing gear, fuel supplies and engines have been known to cause loss of control of the aircraft and fatal crashes as in the American Airlines DC-10 crash at O'Hare Airport on May 25, 1979, in the report of the National Transportation Safety Board, a non patent document cited as reference #1. In current fly-by-electric aircraft damaged electrical wiring with exposed conductors are known to result in electrical shorts resulting in numerous instances of fire, crashes and fatality. For example, damage to or deterioration of electrical conduits has been implicated as root cause of failure in a report by the Canadian Civil Aviation Authority as a probable cause the Swissair flight 111 MD-80, a non patent document cited as reference #2. Deterioration of electrical wiring is cited as a probable cause of the explosion in the center fuel tank of TWA flight 800 Boeing747 in the report of the National Transportation Safety Board, a non patent document cited as reference #3. A similar situation exists with fiber optic conduits being used in emerging fly-by-light aircraft control systems.
Severe chafing can cause exposure or damage to the conduit or that which is causing the chafe. In either case the results can be catastrophic as witnessed by the report of the NTSB investigation of the crash of a V-22 aircraft in 2000, a non patent document cited as reference #4. In this instance the cause of the crash was attributed to chafing by electrical conduits resulting in chafe through of a titanium hydraulic conduit releasing its contents. By law, or decision in recognition of sufficient risk, conduits are usually required to have reactive safety devices such as electrical circuit breakers, temperature and pressure sensors, and relief valves as the means to protect against hazards. In many cases visual and intrusive inspections are used to assure functionality and safety. However, recent studies of intrusive inspections indicate that the procedures can do more harm than good by disturbing and damaging otherwise healthy materials. A recent investigation and report released in June 2001 by the US Federal Aviation Administration Aging Transport Systems Rulemaking Advisory Committee published in 2000, a non patent document cited as reference #5, found that careless intrusive inspections can be a significant risk of causing damage to aircraft wiring.
Damage to aircraft conduits is known to cause catastrophic failure due to loss of signals to control systems, loss of hydraulic fluid, and other situations. Even when control systems remain intact toxic fumes, and dense toxic smoke from smoldering or fire can make it impossible for a pilot to safely fly the aircraft. Intense heat from burning aromatic polyimide electrical wiring insulation and other combustibles can melt other insulation in seconds leading to collateral damage, more shorts and further loss of control. As a result commercial aircraft are now required to have smoke detector alarms. Soon they are expected to incorporate apparatus disclosed in patents by Haun et al U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,996 and Fleege et al U.S. Pat. No. 6,242,993 called arc fault circuit breakers that act to interrupt in real time on detection of arcing electrical faults, but it may be too late to avert disaster.
Considering the extreme safety hazards of loss of control, toxic fumes, toxic smoke, fires or fuel tank explosions of aircraft it is not only important to know that deterioration or damage such chafing, arcing, or cut wires has occurred but also that a situation exists that likely will cause it to happen during flight. It would be very desirable therefore to have an advance warning or corrective action initiated by an in-line or in-situ passive means for the purpose of detecting evidence of significant causes of deterioration, damage and failure of conduits as well as the degree of ongoing deterioration and damage. It would be even more desirable if electricity was not the means of detection of said ongoing deterioration and damage.
A patent disclosure for a set of discrete sensors and strands of sensitized materials for the said purposes was not evidenced during our year 2001 searches of patent databases.